Children put a smile on faces of hospice patients

Named St B’s, the project saw a group of 11 children visit the hospice every Monday afternoon for four weeks, working on projects with patients.

The course started with children and teachers being given a tour of the hospice and taking part in a quiz, before meeting the patients they would be working alongside for the first time.

Weeks two and three saw the children getting to know the patients while working on an art activity using ‘emotion masks’.

They were read a story and used the masks to show the emotions they would be feeling during that time.

The children were read books such as Michael Rosen’s ‘Sad Book’, illustrated by Quentin Blake, and ‘The Huge Bag of Worries’ by Virginia Ironside, which explore different concepts around life and death and the worries associated with dying.

Week four concluded with a party to celebrate the end of the course, to which parents of children were invited and the children were awarded a certificate by St Barnabas House chief executive Hugh Lowson, and were given goody bags.

Marcelle Palmer, St B’s Project Lead, explained the main aim of the new pilot project was to enable St Barnabas House to reach out to more people in the local community, by helping to educate local children about the work of hospices and living with a life-limiting condition.